ATP-dependent ionic permeability on nuclear envelope in in situ nuclei of Xenopus oocytes

The nuclear envelope represents a structural and functional barrier between cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. Small molecules and solutes passively cross the nuclear envelope, whereas the transport of large proteins and RNA requires metabolic energy. Using in situ Xenopus oocyte nuclei, we characterized ATP-dependent ionic permeabilities on the external surface of the envelope. The presence, but not necessarily the hydrolysis, of ATP is crucial to maintaining the channels in an open state. Localization of the ionic channels is still unclear. From morphologic and current kinetics data, we suggest a relation between the ionic channels and the nuclear pores. We try, in this way, to explain the apparent contradiction between the presence of ion-selective channels in parallel with large aqueous pores on the nuclear envelope. Under this hypothesis, variations in the metabolic energy content of the cytoplasm would induce nucleocytoplasmic passive exchanges. The distribution and movement of charged particles across the nuclear envelope may influence many cytoplasmic functions. Regulation of the current by ATP could play an important role in hormonal stimulation, divalent ion permeation into the nucleus, and cell cycle mechanisms.